Half of vaccinated may still get the flu

2 years ago

The vaccine against influenza does not offer optimal protection against the virus for the second consecutive year, the newspapers report the group Wednesday Mediahuis . Half of Belgians vaccinated against the virus and are likely to still contract the disease. This is the result of a choice made by the World Health Organisation (WHO)

as vaccine production takes time, WHO decides in advance against which variants of the virus the vaccine should be active. A calculated risk that has been found, however unfortunate this year, according to several experts interviewed by the daily.

These problems could have been anticipated, estimated virologist Marc Van Ranst. “There for the first time on the market of new generation vaccines, but the Board of Health refused to opt for them for fear of benefiting GSK, its sole manufacturer.”

a similar situation last winter had led to an increase of some 4,400 deaths during the first three months of the year.